The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NET. Switch to the NET to read along with the audio.
1 The Divrei Nechemyah ben Chachalyah. And it came to pass in the month Kislev, in the twentieth year [i.e., 445 B.C.E.], as I was in Shushan the capital [of Persia],
2 That Chanani, one of my achim [see 7:2], came, he and certain men, from Yehudah; and I asked them concerning the remnant of the Yehudim that had survived the Exile [the Golus], and concerning Yerushalayim.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that have survived the Exile [the Golus] there in the province are in ra’ah gedolah and reproach; the Chomat Yerushalayim also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with eish.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for several yamim, and did a tzom, and davened before Elohei HaShomayim,
5 And said, O Hashem Elohei HaShomayim, HaEl HaGadol vHaNora, that is shomer habrit vachesed for them that love Him and are shomer mitzvot over His commandments,
6 Let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hear the tefillah of Thy eved, which I am davening before Thee now, yomam valailah, for the Bnei Yisroel Thy avadim, and mitvaddeh al chattot (confess the sins) of the Bnei Yisroel, which we have sinned against Thee. Both I and the Bais Avi have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not been shomer mitzvot, neither over the chukkim, nor the mishpatim, which Thou commandedst Moshe Thy eved.
8 Remember, the word that Thou commandedst Moshe Thy eved, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations,
9 But if ye make teshuvah and turn unto Me, and are shomer over My mitzvot, and do them; though there were of you those exiled unto the uttermost part of HaShomayim, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them unto the place [i.e., Yerushalayim] that I have chosen to make dwell Shmi (My Name) there.
10 Now these are Thy Avadim and Thy Am, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy ko’ach hagadol, and by Thy Yad HaChazakah.
11 O Adonoi, let now Thine ear be attentive to the tefillah of Thy eved, and to the tefillah of Thy Avadim, who desire to fear Thy Shem; and give success to Thy eved today, and grant him rachamim in the sight of this man. For I was the Mashkeh L’Melech.
2 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artachshasta HaMelech, that yayin was before him; and I took up the yayin, and gave it unto HaMelech. Now I had not been previously sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore HaMelech said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not choleh (sick)? This is nothing else but ro’ah lev. Then I was very much afraid,
3 And said unto HaMelech, HaMelech l’olam yicheyeh. Why should not my countenance look sad, when HaIr, the Bais Kivrot Avotai, lieth in ruins, and the gates thereof are consumed with eish?
4 Then HaMelech said unto me, For what dost Thou make request? So I davened to Elohei HaShomayim.
5 And I said unto HaMelech, If it please HaMelech, and if thy eved have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Yehudah, unto the Ir Kivrot Avotai, that I may rebuild her.
6 And HaMelech said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? So it pleased HaMelech to send me; and I set for him a zman.
7 Moreover I said unto HaMelech, If it please HaMelech, let iggrot be given me to the governors Beyond the River, that they may provide me safe conduct till I come into Yehudah;
8 And an iggeret unto Asaph the Shomer of the forest of HaMelech, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress by the Beis, and for the Chomat HaIr, and for the bais that I shall occupy. And HaMelech granted me, according to the Yad Elohai Hatovah upon me.
9 Then I came to the governors Beyond the River [Euphrates], and gave them the Iggrot HaMelech. Now HaMelech had sent captains of the army and parashim (a troop of horsemen) with me.
10 When Sanvalat the Choroni, and Toviyah the eved (official), the Ammoni, heard of it, it grieved them with a ra’ah gedolah that there was come an adam to seek the welfare of the Bnei Yisroel.
11 So I came to Yerushalayim; was there 3 yamim.
12 And I arose in the lailah, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what Elohai had put in my lev to do for Yerushalayim; neither was there any mount with me, save the mount that I rode upon.
13 And I went out by lailah by the Valley Gate, even before the Dragon’s Spring, and to the Dung Gate [3:13], and made inspection of the Chomat Yerushalayim, which had been broken down, and the gates thereof that were consumed with eish.
14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate, and to the King’s Pool [Pool of Shiloah], but there was no place for the mount that was under me to pass.
15 Then went I up in the lailah by way of the valley, and viewed the Chomah (Wall), and turned back, and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
16 And the officials knew not where I went, or what I did; neither as yet to the Yehudim, nor to the Kohanim, nor to the Nobles, nor to the Rulers, nor to the rest that were to do the melachah (work) had I said anything.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see hara’ah (the trouble) that we are in, how Yerushalayim lieth in ruins, and the gates thereof are burned with eish; come, and let us rebuild the Chomat Yerushalayim, that we suffer derision no more.
18 Then I told them of the Yad Elohai Hatovah which was upon me; as also the Divrei HaMelech that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and rebuild. So they strengthened their hands in tovah (in the good).
19 But when Sanvalat the Choroni, and Toviyah the eved (official), the Ammoni, and Geshem the Arab, heard it, they laughed at us in mockery, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Against HaMelech will you be moredim (ones rebelling)?
20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, Elohei HaShomayim, He will give us success; therefore we His avadim will arise and rebuild; but ye have no chelek (allotted portion), nor tzadakah (right), nor zikaron b’Yerushalayim (history to commemorate in Jerusalem).
3 Then Elyashiv the Kohen HaGadol rose up with his achim the Kohanim, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate; they set it apart as kodesh, and set up the daletot of it; even unto the Migdal HaMe’ah they set it apart as kodesh, unto the Migdal Chanan’el.
2 And next unto him the Anshei Yericho built. And next to them built Zakkur ben Imri.
3 But the Fish Gate did the Bnei Hasnaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the daletot thereof, the locks , and the bars thereof.
4 And next unto them Meremot ben Uriyah ben Hakotz made repairs. And next unto them Meshullam ben Berekhyah ben Meshezav’el made repairs. And next unto them Tzadok ben Ba’ana did so.
5 And next unto them the Tekoim built; but their Nobles put not their necks to the Avodas adoneihem.
6 Moreover Yoyada ben Paseach and Meshullam ben Besodyah made repairs on the Sha’ar HaYeshanah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the daletot, and the locks, and the bars thereof.
7 And next unto them repaired Melatyah the Giveoni, and Yadon the Meronoti, the men of Giveon, and of Mitzpah, upto the seat of the governor of Beyond the River [Euphrates].
8 Next unto him repaired Uzziel ben Charhayah, one of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Chananyah son of the perfumers, and they fortified Yerushalayim upto the Broad Wall.
9 And next unto them repaired Refayah ben Chur, the ruler of half the district of Yerushalayim.
10 And next unto them repaired Yedayah ben Charumaph, opposite his bais. And next unto him repaired Chattush ben Chashavneyah.
11 Malkiyah ben Charim, and Chashuv ben Pachat-Moav, repaired the other section, and the Migdal HaTannurim.
12 And next unto him repaired Shallum ben Halochesh, the ruler of half the district of Yerushalayim, he and his banot.
13 The Valley Gate repaired Chanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoach; they rebuilt it, and set up the daletot thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and 1,000 cubits of Chomah unto the Dung Gate.
14 But the Dung Gate did Malkiyah ben Rechav, the ruler of the district of Beit Hakerem repair; he rebuilt it, and set up the daletot thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
7 Now, concerning the things in your iggeret, let’s take up the next inyan (topic): “it is beneficial for a man not to touch an isha” [i.e., postpone the chasunoh (wedding)].
2 But, because of the acts of zenut, let each Ben Adam have his own Isha, and let each Isha have her own Ba’al (Husband).
3 Let the ba’al render the conjugal choiv (debt) to his isha, and likewise also the isha to her ba’al (husband).
4 It is not the isha who has samchut (authority) over her own body, but the ba’al (husband); likewise, also it is not the ba’al (husband) who has samchut over his own body, but the isha.
5 Do not deprive each other, unless by agreement for a set time, that you may renew zerizut (diligence) to tefillah (prayer) and again you may be together, lest Hasatan lead you into nissayon (temptation) because of your lack of shlitah atzmi (self-control). [SHEMOT 19:15; SHMUEL ALEF 21:4,5]
6 But I say this according to concession (T.N. in view of 5:1-5; 6:12-20), not according to [Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach’s] mitzvoh.
7 But, I wish kol Bnei Adam even to be as I am; however, [this is impossible since] each has his own matanah (gift) from Hashem: one this; and another that.
8 But, I say to the bochrim and the almanot (widows), it is beneficial for them if they remain as I am;
9 But if they do not have shlitah atzmi, let them marry. For better it is to marry than with Eish to be set ablaze.
10 But to the ones having entered bibrit hanissuim (in covenant of marriage), I charge, not I but Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu, an isha is not to separate from her ba’al (husband). [Mal 2:14-16]
11 But, if indeed she is separated, let her remain so, or be reconciled to her basherter; and a ba’al should not leave his isha.
12 But, to the rest I‖Sha’ul‖not Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu, say: if any Ach b’Moshiach has an isha who is an Apikoros and she is willing to live with him, let him not leave her;
13 And if an isha has a ba’al (husband) who is an Apikoros, and he is willing to dwell with her, let her not leave her ba’al (husband).
14 For, [T.N. following the principle of bikkurim], the ba’al who is an Apikoros is mekudash b’Ruach Hakodesh (set apart as holy in the Ruach Hakodesh) by the isha, and the isha who is an Apikoros likewise by the Ach b’Moshiach; otherwise, your yeladim are tema’im (unclean); but now they are tehorim (clean). [MALACHI 2:15]
15 But, if the one who is an Apikoros separates and departs, let the separation occur; the Ach b’Moshiach has not been enslaved, or the Achot b’Moshiach in such cases; but Hashem has given you a kri’ah b’shalom.
16 For how do you know, isha, if you will not bring your basherter (destined mate), your ba’al, to Yeshu’at Eloheinu?
17 Only each of you walk the derech [T.N. according to Hashem’s tochnit or etzah Ro 8:28] to which you were called by Hashem (TEHILLIM 1:6). This is my charge in all the kehillot of Moshiach.
18 If as a ben Berit with bris milah anyone received their kri’ah, let him not conceal it; if anyone without bris milah has been called, let him without bris milah not undergo bris milah.
19 Bris milah is not everything; nor is the lack of it; but being shomer mitzvot Hashem.
20 Each one walk the derech of his kri’ah (calling, summons), and remain there.
21 If while a bond servant you were called, do not let it consume you, although if you can gain your deror ("freedom, liberty" VAYIKRA 25:10), do so.
22 For, the one in Hashem having been called while a bond servant is [Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach] Adoneinu’s ben Chorin (freedman); likewise, the one having been called while a ben Chorin is the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach’s bond servant.
23 You were bought with a pidyon nefesh price; do not become avadim haBnei Adam.
24 Each one wherever on the derech of Chayyim he was called, Achim b’Moshiach, there let him remain in deveykus with Hashem.
19 (20) Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast stored up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in Thee before the Bnei Adam!
20 (21) Thou shalt hide them b’seter (in the shelter) of Thy presence from the intrigues of ish; Thou shalt keep them safe in a sukkah from the riv l’shonot (the strife of tongues, contentious lashon hora, backbiting, slander).
21 Baruch Hashem! For He hath showed me His wondrous chesed in an Ir Matzor (besieged city).
22 (23) For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes; nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my tachanun (supplications) when unto Thee I cried for help.
23 (24) O love Hashem, all ye His Chasidim; for Hashem preserveth the emunim (the faithful ones), but He pays back in full the oseh ga’avah (the one acting in pride, haughtily).
24 (25) Chazak! Be strong, let your levav take courage, all ye that hope in Hashem.
4 A high and haughty eye, and a proud lev—ner resha’im (the lamp of the wicked ones)—are chattat (sin).
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International